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333:(1935) was photographed in the studio after Cotton had bought some inexpensive china from Woolworth's to replace the old chipped studio crockery. In it she used a technique of back of the lighting to cast bold shadows towards the viewer to express a dance theme between the shapes of the tea cups, their saucers and their shadows. It was exhibited locally at the time and in the London Salon of Photography in 1935. It has become Cotton's signature image and was acknowledged on a stamp commemorating 150 years of photography in Australia in 1991.
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she worked as Max Dupain’s assistant in his largely commercial studio in Bond Street, Sydney, where she developed a very personal approach which concentrated on capturing the play of light on inanimate objects and in nature. She would often use her
Rolleiflex camera to secure unposed reactions while Max set up the lighting for a portrait. Her style soon became distinguishable from that of other modernist photographers’ of her time.
161:
Olive Edith Cotton was born on 11 July 1911, the eldest child in an artistic, intellectual family. Her parents, Leo and
Florence (née Channon) provided a musical background along with political and social awareness. Her mother was a painter and pianist while Leo was a geologist, who took photographs
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During the 1930s Cotton developed mastery using the 'Pictorial' style of photography popular at the time and also incorporated a very modern style approach. Cotton's photography was personal in feeling with an appreciation of certain qualities of light in the surroundings. From mid-1934 until 1940
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In 1947, Cotton moved to Cowra, New South Wales, with her family and from 1959 she taught
Mathematics at Cowra High School until 1964 when she opened a small photographic studio in the town, taking many portraits, wedding photographs, etc., for people in the surrounding district, where her work
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In
Australia during the 1930s clients assumed a man would be the photographer. Cotton wryly referred to herself as "the assistant". However whenever possible Cotton photographed visiting celebrities or interesting objects in the studio, even capturing Dupain working in her piece, "Fashion shot,
149:. Cotton became a national "name" with a retrospective and touring exhibition 50 years later in 1985. A book of her life and work, published by the National Library of Australia, came out in 1995. Cotton captured her childhood friend
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390:, New South Wales, with her new husband Ross McInerney. They lived in a tent for the first three years, then moved to a small farm where their two children grew up.
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from the sidelines at photoshoots, e.g. "Fashion shot, Cronulla
Sandhills, circa 1937" and made several portraits of him. Dupain was Cotton's first husband.
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She exhibited her first photograph, "Dusk", at the New South Wales
Photographic Society's Interstate Exhibition of 1932. Her contemporaries included
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and they became friends, sharing a passion for photography. The photograph "She-oaks" (1928) was taken at Bungan Beach headland in this period.
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plugged into the ironing light". Here Cotton processed film and printed her first black and white images. While on holidays with her family at
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The prestigious Olive Cotton Award for
Photographic Portraiture was set up in her honour and funded by Cotton's family and held at the
145:(11 July 1911 – 27 September 2003) was a pioneering Australian modernist photographer of the 1930s and 1940s working in
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in 1933, majoring in
English and Mathematics; she also studied music and was an accomplished pianist with a particular fondness for
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and the
Photographic Society of New South Wales, gaining instruction and encouragement from important photographers such as
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Cotton received numerous commissions in 1945, including photographs of winter and spring flowers for Helen
Blaxland's book
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became well-known and much appreciated, although she was as yet unknown on the postwar city art scene until 1985.
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camera at the age of 11, Cotton with the help of her father made the home laundry into a darkroom "with the
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exhibition held by the Photographic Society of NSW as part of the Australian 150th anniversary celebrations
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Sydney Morning Herald obituary for brother, Frank Cotton and wife Marie, by Tony Stephens, 31 July 2008
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gave her many commissions, and regarded her as one of the best photographers of the 1930s and 1940s.
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was an advocate of her work, and she did many commissions for his various art publications.
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in Sydney from 1921 to 1929, gained a scholarship and went on to complete a B.A. at the
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in 1907. The Cotton family and their five children lived in the then bushland suburb of
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1945 First International Adelaide exhibition organised by the Adelaide Camera Club,
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Beyond the Picket Fence: Australian Women's Art in the National Library Collections
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touring exhibition, curated by Jenni Mather, Christine Gillespie and Barbara Hall
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Cronulla Sandhills, circa 1937" and made portraits of him. The publisher
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868:, exhibition catalogue, Australian Girls Own Gallery, Kingston ACT, 1992
657:"Australian photographer Olive Cotton emerges from Max Dupain's shadow"
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featured Cotton's more non-commercial photographs as illustrations.
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862:, introduction by Helen Ennis, National Library of Australia, 1995
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Shots of flowers, poppies, ca. 1946, photographed by Olive Cotton
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1946 through 1989: Exhibitions with Creative Vision, Sydney, NSW
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Among others, her work was shown in the following exhibitions:
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In mid-1947 Cotton went to live in the bush 35 km from
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The Reflecting Eye: Portraits of Australian Visual Artists
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an exhibition of studio family photographs taken in Cowra
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published by the National Library of Australia in 1995.
488:, Australian Girls Own Gallery, Kingston, Canberra, ACT
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1938 Group show with the Contemporary Camera Groupe at
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Cherry blossom, ca. 1946, photographed by Olive Cotton
805:"Drawing with Light: The Photographs of Olive Cotton"
831:"NSWIS alumni celebrated on new River Class ferries"
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In a Certain Light: Clarice Beckett and Olive Cotton
383:. They separated in 1941 and were divorced in 1944.
692:, Helen Ennis, National Library of Australia, 1995.
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607:Photographs taken for Greta Lofberg, December 1938
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558:What's in a Face? Aspects of Portrait Photography
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522:, National Library of Australia, Canberra, ACT
602:Camping trips on Culburra Beach, N.S.W., 1937
358:, which also included some images by Dupain.
319:Only to taste the warmth, the light, the wind
433:1935 London Salon of Photography, London, UK
634:Waverley City Council Collection, Melbourne
398:Cotton died on 27 September 2003, aged 92.
379:In 1939 Cotton married her longtime friend
529:, National Portrait Gallery, Canberra, ACT
127: 1939–1944)
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622:Interview with Olive Cotton, 19 July 1997
565:Flatlands: Photography and Everyday Space
508:, Ivan Dougherty Gallery, Paddington, NSW
468:Australian Women Photographers 1890-1950
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515:, Mary Place Gallery, Paddington, NSW
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873:Olive Cotton: A Life in Photography
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436:1937 Victorian Salon of Photography
133:Ross McInerney (m. 1944- her death)
16:Australian photographer (1911–2003)
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835:New South Wales Institute of Sport
475:Olive Cotton Photographs 1924-1984
441:Commemorative Salon of Photography
337:features on the cover of the book
64:Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
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497:, National Gallery of Australia,
479:Australian Centre for Photography
421:network was named in her honour.
924:20th-century women photographers
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37:Cotton at the beach, taken by
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914:People educated at MLC School
875:, Fourth Estate, Sydney, 2019
779:"Cotton biography and resumé"
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585:National Gallery of Australia
567:, Art Gallery of NSW, Sydney.
174:in Sydney's north. An uncle,
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629:National Gallery of Victoria
574:, Art Gallery of NSW, Sydney
572:The Photograph and Australia
560:, Art Gallery of NSW, Sydney
546:, Art Gallery of NSW, Sydney
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742:"Max Dupain and Associates"
349:The Budapest String Quartet
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860:Olive Cotton: Photographer
690:Olive Cotton: Photographer
544:Olive Cotton Retrospective
494:Women Hold Up Half The Sky
477:retrospective held at the
339:Olive Cotton: Photographer
866:Olive Cotton: Photographs
724:. Retrieved 24 April 2014
707:. Retrieved 24 April 2014
661:The Sydney Morning Herald
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217:Methodist Ladies' College
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534:The Studio of Max Dupain
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241:The Sydney Camera Circle
408:Tweed Regional Gallery
81:Cowra, New South Wales
549:2002 Solo exhibition
542:2000 Solo exhibition
484:1992 Solo exhibition
286:Signature photographs
182:and her grandfather,
166:'s expedition to the
748:on 30 September 2011
538:State Library of NSW
410:in New South Wales.
225:University of Sydney
215:Cotton attended the
208:in 1924, Cotton met
919:Artists from Sydney
811:. 26 September 2020
448:David Jones Gallery
196:Given a Kodak No.0
178:was a professor of
269:'s staff magazine
229:Chopin's Nocturnes
51:Olive Edith Cotton
655:O'brien, Kerrie.
415:river-class ferry
267:Commonwealth Bank
164:Ernest Shackleton
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73:27 September 2003
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783:the original
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551:Cotton Tales
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486:Olive Cotton
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366:Later career
356:Flowerpieces
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252:Damien Parer
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176:Frank Cotton
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143:Olive Cotton
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75:(2003-09-27)
61:11 July 1911
25:Olive Cotton
18:
894:2003 deaths
889:1911 births
809:A R T Lâ–ĽR K
631:, Melbourne
579:Collections
425:Exhibitions
413:In 2020, a
347:(1937) and
235:Photography
198:Box Brownie
101:Photography
89:Nationality
83:, Australia
41:circa 1930s
883:Categories
789:16 January
642:References
587:, Canberra
381:Max Dupain
271:Bank Notes
210:Max Dupain
180:physiology
157:Early life
151:Max Dupain
117:Max Dupain
92:Australian
57:1911-07-11
39:Max Dupain
841:6 October
168:Antarctic
815:21 April
752:27 April
593:, Sydney
499:Canberra
455:Adelaide
450:, Sydney
202:enlarger
417:on the
221:Burwood
172:Hornsby
162:on Sir
129:
121:
107:Spouses
666:29 May
402:Legacy
321:, 1939
306:, 1935
191:Caucus
147:Sydney
570:2015
563:2013
556:2007
532:1997
525:1996
518:1995
511:1995
504:1995
501:, ACT
491:1995
473:1985
466:1981
439:1938
394:Death
388:Cowra
277:Style
188:Labor
123:(
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843:2023
817:2021
791:2009
754:2011
668:2017
265:The
70:Died
47:Born
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125:m.
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